Puzzled - Handicap of Moody 376 vs Sunfast 37

SouthPark

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Looking at the round the island entries here: http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk/web/cod...age=entries2005

...I see that there are a couple of Moody 376s with TCF of just over 1 (1.005 and 1.001) and then all the Sunsail Sunfast 38s with a TCF of 0.980.

I own a 376 and I was sailing on a Sunfast 38 this weekend and the Sunfast is a way, way faster boat. The 376 wouldn't even keep one in sight.

Am I missing something here?

Southy
 
Think it's due to the 376s being entered under the Island sailng club's own handicap system, wheras the sunsail 37s race under IRC. The two are not directly comparable. For example a Sigma 33 (a one design boat) rates 0.926 under IRC and 0.976 under ISC.
 
The rating systems calculate a value based on a few measurements of the boat (Sail Area, LOA &c). The ISC handicap to which you refer is particularly simple - it is a "club" handicap rather than a serious racing handicap (like IRC).

Under this sort of scheme a cruising orientated boat will always be at a disadvantage against a racing orientated one.
 
Re: Puzzled - Handicap of M376 v Sunfast 37 (& M346; & 333; & 336; &c)

In fact, the Sunfast 37s are in ISC (B), along with a number of 376s.

I don't have any experience of ISC but it looks very fishy to me (not dirty tricks, surely?).

For comparison, in the long established West of Scotland CYCA system, relating TCFs to that of the 376, we get:
346: - 2.5%; 336: +0; Sunfast 37: +9.0%.

The Irish Sailing Association's base TCF list (remarkably close to IRC by some miracle!) gives:
346: not recorded; 336: -1%; Sunfast 37: +9.5%.

Looking down the RTIR list, I see that the 346 and a Moody 333 are handicapped almost identically to the Sigma 33, and both are rated quicker than the 336 (should be -2 to 3% and -5 to 7% respectively). And the 376 is faster than the Sigma 362?

Is someone trying to encourage you all to get into IRC?
 
OK, I'm feeling slightly hard done by - why am I considered to be faster than the other 376's (1.005). I have a standard rig, standard keel, standard everything else - family crew but rating above Sigmas and other faster, racing orientated boats. Is it possible that having a spinnaker is making my handicap worse than the others. A moment of madness in entering, now in danger of looking a bit silly.
I'm up for the scuttlebutt challenge - is the trophy biger than the Silver Roman Bowl (or whatever it is we are supposed to be racing for?
 
Is there any benefit in appealling to the good nature of the ISC? It would seem to me that the M346 and M376 in particular (out of teh Moodys) seem to be harshly treated under the ISC handicap scheme. Do they ever change handicaps?
 
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